Buying a phone for using in both France and Canada

8/16/2016 1:48:50 PM

Any phone you buy in Canada for use on any carrier there will have basic technology compatibility with carriers in France but, as you point out, there are differences in the frequency bands that are used. To choose a North American phone the makes full use of the services that French carriers offer requires picking one that supports as many of the bands used in France as you can. Note that phones without full band support will still be useful but you are likely to be less happy with the service you get than your friends with French phones are.

You’ll need to read the specifications of the phone you are looking at to determine the bands it supports. Bands were traditionally named for their approximate frequency in MHz (a number between about 700 and 2600), but 3G and 4G bands are usually now referred to by band number, a small integer, since this is less ambiguous. These are the bands I believe you want the phone to support for use in France:

2G (GSM): 900, 1800

3G (UMTS, WCDMA, HSPA): Bands 1 & 8 (2100 & 900)

4G (LTE): Bands 3, 7 & 20 (1800, 2600 & 800)

Of these only LTE Band 7 is also used in Canada. There is also a 700 MHz LTE band starting to be deployed in France whose band number I know not but which I hope is the same as one of the North American 700 MHz bands your phone will likely support.

About frequencies, it is probably worth noting that lower frequencies have longer range. While this doesn’t mean that low frequency bands are used more (in fact the opposite is true) it does mean that when only one band is available it is often the lowest frequency band the carrier uses, so support for the low frequency bands may make a significant difference in how well you perceive the phone to work. Unfortunately North American phones supporting LTE band 20 are a bit rare, so you may want to carefully consider this when choosing the phone.

If you buy a phone directly from a Canadian carrier you’ll want to make very sure it isn’t SIM-locked or can be easily unlocked.

8/16/2016 3:46:48 AM

All but a small handful of countries use GSM signaling

Checklist

  1. Phone is GSM
  2. Phone is unlocked if you want to use foreign SIM card
  3. Phone is quad band

I use T-mobile: in FR and Canada texting between myself and herself are included at no charge. $0.20 per minute for roaming phone calls. UMA IMA VOIP calls at no charge. 3G Data also included while roaming

8/17/2016 6:14:39 PM

The quick answer to your question is, if you buy a recent model you have a very good chance it’ll work in France. Now for more detail.

Network

France uses predominantly the GSM network while in Canada usage is still mixed, so if you’re buying a phone from an operator, make sure you choose a GSM compatible operator such as Rogers or Fido. Bell or Telus both operate GSM networks but still have older, different networks, so if you’re buying from them make sure the phone is not CDMA only.

Frequency

Even if you buy a GSM phone, European frequencies are slightly different so make sure you buy what is called a multiband phone (supporting 850/1900 and 900/1800MHz for 2G and 900/2100 for 3G frequencies). You can find these in the phone manual or you can just ask the seller. As for LTE, major Canadian operators operate on band 7 used in France so you should be ok in dense urban areas, but might be less helpful in rural areas.

Unlock

Only applies if you’re buying from an operator, make sure you unlock the phone before returning to France. I’ve done it many times and is very simple, you pay for a code the operator sends you, install a package and restart your phone.

Note

Most recent smartphones, including Apple and Samsung ones, sold in North America support multiple frequencies and you can buy them unlocked if you wish. Unless you’re buying an older or limited model phone, it’s unlikely you’ll have to worry much about it.

Credit:stackoverflow.com‘

About me

Hello,My name is Aparna Patel,I’m a Travel Blogger and Photographer who travel the world full-time with my hubby.I like to share my travel experience.

Search Posts

Latest posts

Popular posts